The Tampa Bay Buccaneers continued to purge their roster on Monday, releasing guards Arron Sears and Shawn Murphy, punter Sam Paulescu, and cornerback Stony Woodson, Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times reports.

Veteran defensive tackle Chris Hovan and fullback B.J. Askew are also expected to be released on Monday.

After starting 31 of 32 games during his first two seasons in the league, Sears, the 35th overall pick of the 2007 NFL Draft, missed all of last season with "undisclosed personal problems". After missing all of training camp, Sears was reinstated to the active roster midway through the season, but placed on the "Reserve/Non-Football Injury" list less than two weeks later.

Claimed off waivers from the Miami Dolphins in Week 7 last season, Murphy appeared in one game for the Bucs. Paulescu averaged 35.5 yards on 24 punts during his five games with the Buccaneers last season, but with the sixth-round selection of Virginia Tech punter Brent Bowden, Paulescu's spot on the roster was shaky, at best.

Woodson, a seventh-round pick by the New York Giants last year, spent the final five weeks of his first season on the Bucs' practice squad, after spending most of the year on the Philadelphia Eagles' practice squad.